A STADIUM which once hosted Champions League and European Championship matches looks completely different after it was abandoned.
The historic Donbas Arena used to seat more 52,000 fans when it served as the home stadium of Shakhtar Donetsk, making it bigger than Villa Park.
The ground took three years to build from 2006 until opening in 2009, costing an estimated $400million (£313.4m).
The ground served as the home of the Ukrainian giants Shakhtar as they won five titles in a row.
In the Champions League the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City all failed to come away with three points.
On the international stage it hosted five games at Euro 2012, including the semi-final between Portugal and Spain.
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During this game alone, superstars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez all took to the hallowed turf.
The England national team even had the chance to play there twice, first in a 1-1 draw with France before a goal from Wayne Rooney secured a 1-0 win over the host nation in a second Group D match.
However, as a result of the growing conflict in Ukraine, in 2014 the ground was abandoned.
That came despite it playing host to a “Peace March” against the violence of the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine and the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.
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And this has left the ground looking completely unrecognisable from its heyday.
As early into the conflict as 2014, the ground was hit by reported artillery shelling.
Pictures of the ground today show the mess it has become, with shattered glass, overgrown vegetation and broken turnstiles all visible features.
Following the expansion of the conflict in 2022, the old football infrastructure has continued to sustain damage, with drone footage from February this year showing the damage that has been inflicted.
Shakhtar have moved four times since abandoning the Donbas Arena.
Between 2014 and 2016 they played in the the Arena Lviv, before moving to the Metalist Stadium in Kharkiv, some 155 miles to the northwest of Donetsk.
The Stadion Wojska Polskiego in Warsaw, Poland, then played host to the club’s home European matches in 2022/23, with the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg, Germany hosting games last season.
And they are set for a fifth new home next season after it was announced the club will play their European home games at the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen for the 2024/25 season.
A club statement said: “Our new European Cup home.
“Shakhtar will play the home games of the Champions League for the 2024/25 season in Gelsenkirchen in the Veltins-Arena.”
Club CEO Serhii Palkin has hailed the deal and argued that the decision was made due to the club’s support in the country.
He said: “We are glad to hold our Uefa Champions League matches at one of the best stadiums in Germany.
“The positive experience of the last season shows that Shakhtar has a strong support of the fans in this country – both local residents and Ukrainian refugees.
“This factor is of great importance to our club.
“We thank the management of Schalke 04 and the city of Gelsenkirchen for solidarity and do not doubt the mutually beneficial cooperation.
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“We are looking forward to the Uefa Champions League matches.”
The move to the Veltins-Arena is 1,582 miles from the club’s original home.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
